Page 5128 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 27 November 1991
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Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act. That includes industrial relations. Not everyone is under a Federal award here. Not everyone is covered by the Industrial Relations Act. And where they are, if preference is shown, that is a case of discrimination within an Act. There are instances in this particular Bill that we are dealing with today where specific categories of people are exempted because of the need for some positive discrimination. There are other Acts, too, which no doubt would apply to the ACT, which would exempt people, and perhaps organisations in some instances, from the operation of this proposed Act.
So, I think that, when one looks at all the legal ramifications of this particular amendment, it is not Robinson Crusoe; it is not alone in terms of some restrictions being placed on it because of another Act, but those restrictions are not 100 per cent restrictions right across the board. Some members have made reference to the fact that, indeed, there will be some changes in the Federal sphere in the not too distant future. I think that is probably inevitable, regardless of who forms the Federal government; and the awards, indeed, might change.
But the argument raised in relation to section 122 of the Industrial Relations Act, which has obviously been accepted by Mr Duby and Mr Collaery, has not been accepted by me or my colleague Mr Humphries, and I think with very good reason, because it is not a blanket provision. It does not go right across the board in the ACT. Really, we have so many other areas which this Bill applies to that I think it would be a great gaping hole in this Bill if this particular amendment were not to be voted for, because it is a fundamental human right and, in fact, some reference is even made to it in the Industrial Relations Act, which Mr Berry himself quotes, by way of the certificate under section 267.
It would appear that this might not be carried, and I think that in itself is a sad thing. I am a bit disappointed to hear Mr Collaery and some other members indicate that they do not want trouble - "We do not want industrial relations trouble as a result of this". For goodness sake, you are an Assembly; you are meant to make the laws. You are meant to be the law-makers; the people who determine what happens in this Territory. The Territory is not meant to be run by some other body. We are not run by the Trades and Labour Council here. We are not run by CARD. We are not run by BOMA. We are meant to run the Territory from this Assembly.
We are the people who have been elected to govern the ACT, not some other organisation. To say, "We cannot offend certain organisations", whatever they are - and I do not care who they are - is quite wrong because we are abrogating our responsibility if we use that argument. If sometimes you have to have some confrontation, so be it. I do not think that is at all likely here because, indeed,
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